OUR WEST COAST LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2286, 23 December 1897, Page 21

OUR WEST COAST LETTER.

(Fiiom Oue Own Coimespondbnt.) Westland, December 4.

A CANCBB SCABK AT GKEYMOOTH.

Councillor Sheedy,.pf the Grey mouth Borough Council, has raiced whirlwinds of frenzy within, ths breast of every beefeater down that? way since his disturbing utterance to the effect that Grey mouth babohers were killing, cancerous cows and retailing the grueacmia meat to townsfolk. Tha other city fathers have taken the matter up* and, urged on by the press, the " blue scouts " arc now bard on the trail. They do iome queer things in cattle there. I once knew one of Greymouth's leading merchants fix the wanting fourth leg of his cow up with a stick and work the poor anim»l till stopped by the police. It got into the public pound, and he even ejected it by force.

DttJEDOING CATCHING ON

Dredgiug the rivers of 1 Weafclanit fo? gold appears to be again attracting attention. Lasb week a party from the North Island (who were well acquainted with th« locality during the earlier "rosies") pagged off some miles of the Tofcara River with the view of putting ou a 1 large dredge. Formerly this uatfc of the rive? was remarkably rich> but only tha surf *co was worked iii, the way. "Lasb Saturday^ .dredge put on at M»hin*pua Greek/ eouhh side of fche. Hokitika River, struck payable gold,, and wiil, it is thought, be" worked probably.; The foreshore is vested in the Westlknd Acclimatisation Socii'-y, Bub the dredge-owt!oc*,j having undertaken uofc to injure- tbe 'natural; olWctiverjew of the Greek," will b<? allowed I,O[ work undisturbed.

DEATH OP A CELEBRITY,

By the death of the late James DougUs Monteith last Thursday the ebbing tide of the Forty-niners drops owe, and were his history written it would make good reading matter ; but brief glances will here suffice. Born of an illustrious parentage in the city of Gl*sgow in 1830, he had some *' high life below srairs " between the hours of the High School and those of midnight until he joined as midshipmau iv the British merchant service, in which he witnessed and took part in some extraordinary dangera to life and limb. A few yearajater finds him discoverer of the celebrated Cluues mine (Victoria), but there he only remained till the Port Phillip Company fetched oh the machinery and put him and the other promoters out. At Forrest Creek we find him suspending work in the richest gold mine there to help the gold escort to take two red-handed murderers, thereby earning the thanks of the gold commissioners. In 1865 Jonei'Flat (Ross) bad him in the thick of that wild rush, during which he safely ran fche blockade of Burgess and Sullivan, the dangers of the caviug-in flats, with much ••hard lack." In life he was one of fche pluckiest and coolest of men, and during one of these exhibitions he advanced and unchained one of the most ferocious of balldojfs, a ■feet which "Cropear'a" own master shrank from. \ \ TUaNipG, THE TABLES, As a rule the West -Coast newspapers are not a happy family, for when not barking at one another some of these '.'fearfully and wonderfully made" put in : the- time by indulging iv "undercut" chops. Lasb Thursday the Hokitika Guardian put ia an offer to do all the printing and advertising of the Ross Borough Council at starvation rates, but 'which only met the righteous fate of being "received" us an item of correspondence, the city fathers remarking that; they had their own local paper, the- Ross Advocate. But, John Bull like, the Advocate man threw a- bomb back at his adversary by submitting the following night to the Hokitika Borough Council a copy of the Guardian's starvation schedule, pointing out, on the score of economy, tha* perhaps the H.B.C. might get their work done at the same rates — a suggestion which caused fcha fathers to elevate their eyebrows and propose to refer it to the Finance Committee for report. PROSPECTING ROADS THROUGH WESTLAXD. -

Efforts are being made all over the West Coast this year to get' Government to make pack and bridle tracks through tho3e parts known fro hold payable gold, but hitherto impenetrable. At Marina, a promising goldfield situated about the Upper Buller River, agitation, backed by Mr O'Regan, member for the district, is, going- on for a track connecting therewith the township of Murchison, and from thence on to lleefton through the Matakitaki. Ab Paparoa attempts will be made to/ bridge the Grey River so as to connect the Blackball with the main Grey Valley road ; and down at* the south spit, south side of the Hokitika River, a petition praying for a prospecting track along the old Aylmer lead towards Ross is spoken of.

PAYABLW WATER RACES.

Returns in the New Zealand Mines Record show how West Coast water races are made to pay, as under : — The sales of water from the Kumara water race during the month of August amounted to £266 15s 6d| Waimea, £70 17s 6d ; Callaghans, £6 ss. Expenditure for rnanagemenb, maintenance, and contingencies : Kumar*. £161 Is 6d; Wwm«i, £48 4b 2d; Cal-

laghans, £10. Number of men supplied t Kumara, 71 ; Waimea, 51 ; Callaghans, 6. Gold obtained: Kuuaara, ''445:z^ W»imea, 2220_z ; Cftllaghaus, 20oz. Average weekly earnings per man after deducting amount paid for water-: Kumara, £1-93* 9d; Waimea an# CftlUghans, £1 9s lOd. Sluioing has not yef been tried on a large scale at Callaghans, bnt a new party are making preparations for more extensive wotkiog, and if successful other parties will probably be induced to take up and work ground in that locality. FUNNY COAST THINGS.

In last Tuesday's issue of the Greymouth Star an "Old. Miner" writes to say "that miners would hail with delight and satisfaction a proposal to tax them 6d iv the pound on their gross earnings." The Charleston Herald saya that the Buller County Council invites tenders for repairing the Tofcara River ! Recently "a Sixth Standard girl went to the postmaster at Hokitika and asked for William Shakespeare's addree*, us s\)e wished to writs him her opinion* on " The Comedy of Errors." Mr John Currie, mayor of Ross,- is nothing if not witty. Rcently, whilst an argument on the differences of diagnoses as applied by the medical faculty was being worked out, the chief magistrate of the city of Ross clinched mattera somewhat by casually contradicting the general concensus (which held vociferously that no two doctors ever agreed) ; "Agree? They all agree on oae diagnosis— that i«, their fee !,"

LIVE KICKS.

At the joint request of the Ross Borough Council and the Totara Miners' Association

Government have, sent down a man to survey levels and mako out' estimates of cost for draining the Doneliy's Cr«ek gold, drifts and for putting in an adit 'to Park .Terrace." Theca .wonld be over 150 acres of known auriferous lands thus drained for working; but- of'courae until the Ro«» Flat resumes working there will be no real rc-lfase of life for Ross. "that horse what wouldn't ao ! "

Andrew Anderson, carrier, of the '• city " of G eymouth, had a horse that wouldn't go at times, and one day> forgetting the quadruped's obstinate tricks, Andrew tried to get him over*, portion of the Reofton-Grisytnonth railway line; but just as the warning whistle of the approaching r engine screamed the horse took the stickups bad and wouldn't* budge till the oowo&tcher ctmo along and somersaulted everything, and for' which this jibber's owner had to pay 8s fco her Majpsty's bench. MR STItATFORD, S.M , SCORES.

Me Stipendiary Magistrate Stratford, of "Graymonth, has satisfactorily soored a point against Mr Auditor-general Warburton. It appears the A.G. refused to certify to sm.ab.straefcef the mini og revenue collectable unless fche abstract* wera signed by the warden instead of by the clerk of the court. Mr Stratford, who is a lawyer, refused fco sign the abstracts on the ground that on account of hi* mnltif*rious duties and travelling it <n&* generally inconvenient for him to do so, brides which he said it wai not necesiary. The Auditor-general retorted that other wardeus did'- it, and there wan no reason why Mr Stratford should be an exception, and he. re r erred. the matter to the Minfeter for Mines, who refuied to interfere in fche dispute b*yond refer v\n« Mr Stsracfordfs assertions as fco the legality of his contention to the SoMeifcoi:-GeM«ral, who advised* the Minister that Mr-Stratford wavcorwet ia his-interpreta-tion-of law, and this, of. courie, was reitd fco th* cTiscotnatare of tlie Audifcorigeiiftral. ■■ ■ A- TOWN' HAt,L>OR ORTCYMOUTH. Mr- MilK has, iq- answer ho an, adv^rti»emenfc, tendered fco erects for Greymouth a town hall on fche following terms : .."Wood,* for £210 a year ; in brick for £280 a year,' for; a psrio^ of .26 yearar all 1 rale*,' ground rerita, &c,, to he p»id by fche borough, as well as an insucanca policy taken out iv tenderer's uatue for £2000 at the borough's expense ; the hall and ground fco bscome the borough's property at the expiration of tha 26 years. The council's estimate for a wooden building was £3049, and a subcommittee was »ppoinfo,l to I'sj/orfc at next meeting. <■

A TKI.Si'HONK FOB Uf.AUJUUr.T,. Mr Joseph Scott, manager of the BUckba.ll Coal Company, is doing much to assist local efforts towards establishing telephonic communication between Blackball and Ngahsre townsbipi. The company has n. line of its own, and provided rhc public give sufficient guarantee, the probability is that Mr Sc.obt will be enabled fco meat them quite fa»lf *»ay. .

>»! RIB LITTLR GAMES. A stranger lust week went the rounds o£ Reefton with three aud a-half yards of woollen stuff, offering it for seven yards, and ultimately a resident took compassion on him, and purchased the " pig in the poke" ; bub tha tramp is now in the " stone jug," with fche chance of auditing his accounts more correctly. Another, of a hilarious turn, named Peter Simple, is now letting his extra merriment oat for 14- days inside tha Hokitika gaol because ho would not keep his skeleton key out- oV Mr James Marshall's lock on Tofcara Flat. Petec'e fondness'for money Belonging' to his' neighbour was the'rock on, which he»plit. ; - - Sun dajr amusements at\Ctiarleslon take tne form of .morning services,. fprotjoon boxings aad affcernpoa 6rcnit-fiuhiug in lh{> from the waters of which. fc»u Kuudson rucceeded in. drawing a beaufrifuUy-apoteed 17£lb fi»h jiwfc before,' vespers; - • • ! I do not know whether it is the Greymouth Hartour Board that is getting into deep water over its fioances or whether the General Government do not trust that body in its administration ; but this I do know, that at last meeting of. the board a letter was read from the Lands department stating that Government proposed to appoint someone to collect the board's revenue, aad asking the board's recommendation thereon, which letter caused a motion to be lost to the effect that the board had no recommendation to make, and an amendment was carried that the board recommend an office at 5 per cent, upon amount collecbed. , Last Monday the harbour-masfcer reported to his -board that during the month of November the d«pth on the bar was 28ffc 6in ; that during fche same period 39 steamers and 2 sailing vessels had" arrived in port, and that 42 steamers and 2 sailing vessels had departed.